March 16, 2011 ■ Stories about local schools, students and issues related to learning
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School district,
teachers face
push-back on
technology in
the classroom
By Miranda Simon
Special to the Almanac

Classroom

divide

J

ohn Davenport was
a chalk-and-graphite kind of teacher,

but when the Portola Valley School District started offering laptops and technology training for instructors, he not only
tested the waters, he dove right in.
“It began when the school board
started talking about the 21st-century
classroom” three or four years ago, said
Mr. Davenport, a social studies teacher
at Corte Madera School. “The teachers
accepted the challenge.”
But then, parental concerns about Mr.
Davenport’s extensive use of technology
prompted school officials to divide his class in
two, he said. A new classroom with “a brand
new teacher who will teach a more traditional
class with far less technology” was set up parallel to his, he said.
On Feb. 1, out of Mr. Davenport’s 77 sixthgrade students, the district sent 42 to the parallel classroom. Out of his 71 seventh-graders,
the district transferred 33.
The division of Mr. Davenport’s class

is reflective of an apparent
technological divide within the
district, and at a national level,
as educators try to strike the
right balance of technology use
in the classroom.
But it also raises questions about the
district’s level of preparation in introducing
costly, sophisticated teaching tools into its
classrooms. Were teachers given enough
guidance about how much they could
bypass textbooks and workbooks in favor
of teaching with electronic tools? Were parents brought into the process as the district
moved to introduce teaching approaches
the parents might distrust or oppose?
In the last four years, the district spent
around $4 million from the general fund on
a technology plan that gave teachers technology upon request, and free rein on its use.
As a result, some teachers use their newly
acquired tools to the full extent and others
at a bare minimum — in the same way that
some teachers would prefer pen and paper
over whiteboards. But as public schools across
the country embrace laptops, iPads and other
new technology in classrooms, the question
arises whether these more costly pedagogic
tools should be treated in the same way as
their much cheaper predecessors.
District board President Bill Youstra said
they should. “We look at it as any other

Photo by Michelle Le/The Almanac

Above, Corte Madera sixth-graders, from left, Fallon Falore, Jared
Soltys, Pedro Alvarez and Antonio Levaggi work on a joint PowerPoint
presentation. Their teacher, John Davenport, in photo at left, has had
his classes divided, with many students leaving for a more traditional
classroom, because of his intensive use of technology.

tool,” he said. “I wouldn’t presume to tell
the teachers to use the computers this way or
that way. That’s where the magic happens.
“I don’t really care what the chef uses in
the kitchen to make a fabulous meal; I care
about the outcome.”
But some teachers say they would like a
little guidance.
Because the technology is expensive,
some teachers want to make sure they
explore all its uses, but the division of Mr.
Davenport’s class is pressuring them to
scale back, he said.
“To be honest with you, I don’t think
the vast majority of the teachers are using
it to the fullest,” he said. “The minute they
saw what was happening to me, they put
the brakes on. They saw that if you use it
to the fullest you get in trouble.”
District Superintendent Tim Hanretty
said Mr. Davenport’s class did not address
the needs of all the students in the classroom, but neither he nor Mr. Youstra
would talk about parent concerns that
reportedly led to the division of the class
and hiring of a new teacher.
The Almanac tried to reach other board
members, but, according to Mr. Hanretty,
the president of the board is the only person who can speak to the press.
When asked whether he believed a broader
outreach to parents may have prevented the

problems that led to the split of Mr. Davenport’s class, Mr. Youstra said there wasn’t a
lack of parental communication.
“We have a very rigorous budget process
that is very transparent, and there are a good
amount of (parent) comments,” he said.
Overall, parents are happy with the
way the school district is handling technology, according to Parent Teacher
Organization presidents Jane Wilson and
Kristi Patterson. The district’s technology initiative was presented at past board
meetings, but Ms. Wilson said parents
don’t attend the meetings very often.
“I had a parent come to me the other day
who said her kid wanted to stay in the class,
but she wanted her out,” Mr. Davenport
said. “(The parent) made it very clear that
she wanted a more traditional class for
her daughter. (In my class, her daughter)
wouldn’t have the experience of working
with a textbook.” Mr. Davenport said he
rarely uses textbooks in his class.
Continued on page 23

In the photo on the cover, Jared Soltys,
left, works with Pedro Alvarez on a joint
project requiring the use of high-tech tools.
Photo by Michelle Le/The Almanac
March 16, 2011 N The Almanac N 21

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Mr. Youstra said the split in Dr. Davenport’s class is
not a school-wide issue, and he doesn’t believe teachers
should be discouraged by it.
“There are different levels of implementation (of
technology), and that’s fine,” he said. “Some teachers
might say we don���t want to use it at all. What we have
observed in the past, is that as people get comfortable
with technology they might implement it more.”
It’s not surprising that the Portola Valley School
District is on top of the game when it comes to
technology in the classroom. The district — with
two elementary schools serving residents of Portola
Valley, portions of Woodside and nearby unincorporated areas — is home to some of the most prominent Silicon Valley engineers.

Kathy’s

RJ’s

a troubling shift in attitude by school administrators
as he has increased his use of classroom technology.
Hired in August 2009, Mr. Dune was using cloud
computing, blogging and producing multimedia. He
said despite all the extra effort it entails to prepare a class
with all the technological aggregates (he must update
blogs and teach children to implement the tools), his
students’ excitement drove him to continue.
After receiving laudatory evaluations in November
2009 and through most of 2010, he was told around
Thanksgiving that he would not be recommended for
rehire, he said. He started phasing back into textbooks
after hearing rumors of parents’ complaints on the
excessive use of technology in his classroom.

Shane Turner, 10, is helping Ms. Barton show
a reporter how the classroom’s interactive whiteboard — known as an ActivBoard — works.
“It’s pretty damned awesome. My brother always
complains I got all the cool stuff” in class, Shane
Technology plan
says. Ms. Barton responds that it’s his brother’s
The district’s 2007 four-year technology plan fault for not having been born later.
includes: implementing “blogs, Wikis, podcasts, and
Under the board, there’s a box of cellphone-like
... social networking tools”; “1-1 laptops,” in which devices that allow students to text answers to the
every child has access to a personal laptop in class; and teacher during class exercises. As the answers show up
interactive whiteboards,
on the ActivBoard, Ms.
which project the teachBarton is immediately
er’s computer screen and
able to gauge whether
allow children to tinker
she is teaching the leswith it. The plan includes
son too quickly for the
a pilot program for each
class to understand and
tool and specifies that its
pinpoint which students
success be reported to
to assist.
the board biannually.
Each student can use
According to school
a laptop to check their
board minutes, teachanswers and search for
ers Marcia Barton and
information during
Jonathan Dune, and
class, when Ms. Barton
Technology Specialist
instructs them to do so.
Kim Brown reported
Ms. Barton says the
to the board in May
number of projects
2010 that the 1-1 laptop
the class could underpilot program had been
take per school year
successful. There were
increased because stusubsequent reports to
dents were finishing
the board in August
them faster. Still, cerand December.
tain rules had to be
When the district
worked out, like bandecided to expand the
ning the use of Faceprogram to more classbook during class.
rooms in June 2010, six
Mr. Morgan, the
out of 12 core education
social studies teacher,
teachers decided to parsays children get easily
ticipate, according to Mr.
distracted when surfHanretty, but the admining the Web, so he uses
istration didn’t ask them
the computers mostly
Photo by Michelle Le/The Almanac
to present a proposal on Laptops recharge at Corte Madera School.
for an online history
how they were to impletextbook the school
ment it. The only mandistrict subscribed to
date was that all teachers
for a year.
attend a monthly technology tutorial.
“It’s very easy to get hypnotized with the comSerge Morgan, a social studies teacher at Corte puter,” he says. “They start off by looking things up,
Madera School, who requested an interactive they come across something that’s more interesting
board — a computerized whiteboard — and a while waiting for the class to move on, and they
laptop for all his students, was surprised at how drift into YouTube or something.”
promptly he received them.
He does not use the ActivBoard. “Right now it’s just
Mr. Morgan had asked for laptops to implement sitting there. It makes a wonderful projection screen
the 1-1 laptop program in his class when he found but it’s a very expensive projection screen,” he says.
out they were being used in the special education
On a recent Monday, the desks in Mr. Davenport’s
program at Corte Madera School. “Clearly (the sixth-grade social sciences classroom were arranged
district) has a little bit more money than others, but in a circle. Wide-eyed kids hovered over their silver
that was a lot of money. I didn’t expect those things Dells, preparing a joint project on modern India for
to appear immediately,” he said.
Friday. They’re all working on their three assigned
Lack of guidance led the teachers to implement slides for a Powerpoint presentation, and any changtechnology at different levels, Mr. Davenport said. es made can be seen on a cinema-like screen.
The two teachers who piloted the 1-1 laptop program
It’s the first time Mr. Davenport has tried making
— Marcia Barton and Jonathan Dune, a probation- a joint presentation using Google Docs, and he’s as
ary English language arts teacher and technology wide-eyed as the students. But for some teachers,
consultant — had good results before the program he says, the lesson to be learned from his class is
was expanded. But Mr. Dune said he has experienced that the less you use technology, the better.

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Where age is just a number

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iane Masket of Ladera, a
student-athlete at MenloAtherton High School,
and Benjamin Hadrovic of Menlo
Park, a student-athlete at St. Francis High School, are winners of the
2010 Chris Zider Scholarships.
Each receives a $15,000 scholarship that can be used during
the next six years for college,
private high school tuition, or for
educated-related expenses, such

as taking a summer course on a
college campus.
This year’s winners and finalists represent five high schools:
Menlo-Atherton, Menlo School,
Sacred Heart Prep, Palo Alto
High, and St. Francis. Since 1993,
when the Zider scholarship program was established, 29 students
have won scholarships.
The annual scholarships are
given in memory of Chris Zider,
who grew up in Menlo Park and
Portola Valley and was the oldest

child of Bob and Cheryl Zider of
Portola Valley. Chris died in a
snowboarding accident at Lake
Tahoe in 1992, when he was 15
and a sophomore at Woodside
High School. He attended Menlo
School his freshman year after
graduating from the Portola Valley School District.
“In my eyes, all these young
adults are winners,” said Cheryl
Zider. “Besides their many accomplishments in the classroom, on
the playing fields, and in the com-

Diane Masket combines her
interest in sports with community service projects. As president
of the Outreach Club at MenloAtherton, she’s taken part in various fundraisers such as “Project
Backpack,” collecting backpacks
and toiletries for homeless people
in San Francisco’s Tenderloin
District. She also has tutored
first- and second-graders in reading and math at Taft School in
Redwood City.
Diane plays varsity lacrosse and
soccer at M-A and club soccer.
Benjamin Hadrovic plays varsity football at St. Francis High
School. He works as a “buddy”
for mentally challenged children
who play in the Menlo Atherton
Challenger Baseball League.
Finalists

The winners were selected from
the nine finalists. The seven other
finalists are:
■ Richard Cornew of Portola
Valley, who plays varsity lacrosse
and football at Menlo-Atherton,
restores cars and plays the guitar.
■ Jesse Ebner of Portola Valley, who plays varsity soccer for
Sacred Heart and volleyball for
both her school and club. She is
involved in “Tom’s Shoe Club.”
■ Richard Harris of Atherton,
who is news editor of the Menlo
School newspaper. Named the
most valuable player on Menlo’s
varsity basketball team, he also
plays football and is a buddy for
the Special Olympics.
■ Kristoffer Hoglund, who
plays varsity soccer and lacrosse at
Palo Alto High School. He won an
“Athlete of the Week” award from
the Palo Alto Weekly.
■ John Larson of Atherton,
who traveled to New Orleans to
help rebuild a home damaged

Diane Masket and Ben Hadrovic

by Hurricane Katrina. At Sacred
Heart School, he plays football
and baseball. He also volunteers
at St. Anthony’s Padua Dinning
Room near Menlo Park.
■ Sara Orton, who served as
sophomore class president at
Menlo-Atherton. She plays soccer
and lacrosse for her school, and
belongs to a mother-daughter
book club.
■ Shannon Scheel, who competes on Palo Alto High School’s
varsity water polo and swim teams,
and coaches young children as a
counselor at Christian Music Theater’s summer camp. She traveled
to Scotland as part of a thespian
troupe that attended the Fringe
Festival in Ediburgh.
A